IPL 2018: Dinesh Karthik Terms Nitish Rana's Dismissal as 'Silly'

With their 13-run defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) hope for their third title went down the drain. Skipper Dinesh Karthik seemed satisfied with the team’s performance this season, after finishing third in the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) points table in the league stage.

Karthik, during the post-match conference, talked in detail about his role as a leader of young troops in the squad and empowering them to the best of their abilities in nutshell.

“Very Happy. I think it has been a great campaign for us. We played as a team. There have been lots of good memories and that’s why we play cricket for. As a leader, I kept the team together. I was working a lot on helping each other individually and tried to empower people to do their best,” Karthik commented during the press conference.

Further, Karthik heaped praises on Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Rana, when asked about the youngsters standing up in the tournament.

“Definitely, you know, Shubman has been outstanding, Prasidh has been brilliant, Mavi is someone who has been real quality, Nitish also played really well. There are lots of young players KKR can look forward to,” replied Karthik.

The second Qualifier of the playoffs belonged to one man namely Rashid Khan, who was simply stupendous in all departments of the game.

By affecting a runout, grabbing hold of a couple of catches, outstanding spell of bowling and his priceless cameo, the Afghan sensation, single-handedly took his team to the grand finale of the tournament.

“It was a day when everything went right for Rashid Khan. Credit to him. In these kind of games, you want individuals to stand up like that and put the pressure on opponents,” reckoned the newly-appointed skipper of KKR.

What Went Wrong for KKR?

Karthik cited out the inability of a batsman to see through the chase as the primary reason for their loss.

“It was up to the batters to see the game through. One of the batters had to play until the end. Today, it did not happen. Shubman really fought for us, which shows his character and suggests he is special,” the Indian international stated.

Furthermore, the wicket of Nitish Rana did not amuse Dinesh Karthik a bit as he termed it as ‘silly’.

“More than the wicket of Lynn and Russell, it was the wicket of Nitish Rana which was very crucial, as we were 90-1 at that stage. Very silly on Rana’s part to have a dismissal like that at a crucial juncture in the game,” concluded Karthik.